Okay
by LiveLaughLovex
Summary: She wanted to be happy, knew that she should be happy, but who would be jumping with joy about any of this? OLAKE.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I finally posted this! I've been working on the idea behind it since I watched the first four seasons for the second time over the past few months. It goes AU around 4x12/4x13. It's also a baby fic centered around Olivia's PTSD and has an Olake endgame. I hope everyone enjoys. Also, don't read this just to leave hate, please. There are much better ways to spend your time.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

Olivia Pope sat on her wine-stained sofa, staring at the small white stick resting on a paper towel mere centimeters away on her coffee table with shock and horror. Her skin prickled with a coldness that did not exist in the room, yet despite her body's natural anxious response to the news that she had just been given after a convenient three-minute wait, she felt beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead and soak into her loose locks. Despite everything that she had been through in her lifetime-with an emphasis on everything that she had been through in her last eight weeks-, she could honestly say that she had never been more terrified than in the moment when the two pink lines that so many songs had been written about over the years became impossible to ignore. As she sat there, there was only one thought running through her mind. What the hell was she going to do now?

The second thought to run through her mind should probably have been how this had happened, but she already knew the answer to that. It turned out that while Jake Ballard could stare dictators in the eye without flinching and give orders that allowed for history to be made without hesitation, he was very much like most men in the fact that he tended to give sobbing, distraught women whatever the hell they wanted without hesitation if he thought that it would make them stop crying. That night, what she had wanted was him. She had never imagined that that moment would lead her to this moment. She had never imagined that a baby would be in the cards for the two of them. She had never imagined that the first emotion she felt when she learned of a pregnancy would be panic. Then again, she had also never imagined that she would be kidnapped, manhandled, and held against her will in absolute terror for a week before anyone found her, so it seemed that her imagination wasn't nearly as terrifying as reality most days.

She would have been happy if it had been any other time. Yes, she would have been anxious and terrified, but she would have allowed those emotions to fade into happiness rather quickly if her life had been normal at that point in time. The problem was that her life wasn't normal, and it hadn't been in weeks. She was still damaged from what had happened. She still refused to open her front door; Jake was the only one who had been in her apartment since the night following her rescue, and that was only because he was the one who had copies of all of the keys courtesy of Huck. She woke up screaming most nights, and didn't sleep in her bed alone any nights anymore. She didn't go outside for anything other than work, and she stayed on her phone for the entire walk or drive just to prevent herself from becoming lost in the silence. The last thing that she needed to bring into her life was a baby. She did not need a baby to consider in all of this. That didn't change the fact that she was still going to have one.

She knew that she should tell Jake, but she didn't know how to. She knew he would be ecstatic. He had always wanted to be a father, had told her on the island that he imagined that in their future. Back then, when everything was simple and easy and compartmentalized, it had been a comforting thought. Now, the idea of informing him of his impending fatherhood and being faced with his excitement when she was experiencing only a fraction of that joy herself, it was a terrifying one.

It turned out that that wasn't a decision that she had to make. The doorknob rattled, and Jake's voice called out, "Just me, Liv,", and Olivia inwardly panicked.

"Just a second," she called out, and she could sense his shock even through the door as he paused in unlocking the door. She pulled it open about ten minutes later after taking a deep breath. "Hi," she greeted cheerfully, hoping that her false happiness would hold off questions for a few minutes. "I didn't know that you were going to stop by." She stepped aside to allow him to enter.

"Yeah, I figured I'd check in," Jake stated as he walked into her apartment, confusion still the prominent emotion on his face. "Quinn said you had a hard case today, so I brought some Gettysburger," he informed her, holding up the takeout bag from their favorite burger joint. "I also brought beer. I don't know good wine from grape juice, so I didn't think you'd want me picking that for you." He glanced back at the now-closed door. "You just let me in," he stated, something akin to awe in his tone of voice.

"I just let you in," she confirmed with a small, anxious smile. "Jake, we need to talk."

"Those are not words any man wants to hear from a beautiful woman," Jake informed her, placing the takeout bag on her kitchen table and then turning towards her. "But all right, I'll bite. Which you should stop doing; you're going to make your lip bleed." She immediately released her bottom lip from between her teeth, and he looked towards her with uncertainty and concern obvious in his gaze. "What's going on with you, Liv?"

"I've been having sickness, which isn't something unanticipated in my line of work. I'm pretty sure I have an ulcer at all times. But it's only in the morning, you see, and so I told Abby about it, and she went out and bought a test, and I took it thirty minutes ago." She drew in a deep breath. "And it was positive."

"Wow." Jake drew out the word, sinking into one of her dining room chairs. "Well, that's... Wow." He shook his head. "Are you sure? I mean, I'm not saying you're lying, but it's just... this is a person, Liv. I need to know if you're sure."

"I had blood work done at the doctor's two weeks ago. They were just looking for evidence of remnants of drugs, but I asked them if they found anything else when they called me with the results this morning. Abby was with me when I got them, and because I had just told her about the sickness and refused to listen to her, she went out and bought the test. I probably didn't even need to take it; urine is less accurate than blood. I... I just wanted to confirm for myself what biology had already confirmed for the medical professionals." Olivia sighed. "I should have told you the moment that I began to suspect anything. I'm sorry."

"Liv, I am not angry," he assured her. "I'm just surprised. I didn't think that...we used protection."

"We did, and that's also the only time I've done anything since I got back. I guess those sex-ed teachers did not lie to twelve-year-old me, after all," she joked, hoping to draw out a chuckle. "It really does only take one time for your entire life to be changed."

"Is it going to be?" Jake questioned, causing her to meet his eyes with her own. "I mean, your life. Is it going to be changed?"

"Is that your very subtle way of asking if I plan to continue this pregnancy?" Olivia questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Look, I know how you feel about a woman's right to choose. If you want to terminate, it's not my business," Jake stated, refusing to look at her.

"Jake, I wouldn't have told you if I was unsure about whether or not I wanted to continue the pregnancy. I told you because growing children eventually become difficult to hide underneath clothing, and I wanted you to know before everyone else." Olivia smiled at him, a shy smile that she didn't use often. "I'm terrified of this."

"So am I," Jake admitted lowly.

"You and me, though, us, the baby, all of it, it'll be okay, right? We will be okay?" Olivia asked, uncharacteristic vulnerability in her yes and voice.

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "We'll be okay."

Olivia prayed that he could keep that promise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I am so glad people like this! Also, I stole aspects of Olivia's pregnancy and how she feels about it from Meredith on GA. Oh, and Dr. Reilly is Addison from PP. Dell is also stolen from PP. And I've never had a baby, so please excuse any mistakes.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the shows with characters mentioned. They are all the intellectual property of Shonda Rhimes.**

Olivia hated doctors' offices. They were always so pale and cold and sterile. She wasn't usually one to pay attention to an over-abundance of white, much less complain about it, but a waiting room for expectant mothers could stand to be a bit less put together and immaculate. Then again, Olivia was at least ninety-five percent sure that she wouldn't have cared in the slightest if not for the fact that she was there for something other than a yearly checkup for the first time in her life. But still, they could afford to have more magazines about the joys of motherhood and fewer about victims of postpartum psychosis.

Jake was seated next to her, perfectly content to exist in silence until they were called back to an examination room. He flipped through a magazine with a brightly colored cover that boasted its contents included over seventy healthy recipes for those in the two and under crowd. The fact that he was reading about sleepless nights and food and she was reading about pre-and-postnatal mental disorders and birth defects and genetic diseases was a realistic description of both their personalities and their relationship.

She flipped the page with a sigh and winced when she began to read an article about forceps being required during delivery. Jake glanced towards her questioningly when she quickly slammed the magazine shut, arching an eyebrow when her eyes finally met his. She hesitated before blurting, "What if he's born with two heads?" She ignored the glare of an anxious mother now being forced to explain her question to a horrified six-year-old boy and focused on Jake, who looked as though that was the last question he expected her to ask him. Then again, she wasn't a particularly paranoid person when it came to her own health, so it very well might have been the last question he expected her to ask him.

"Liv, you..." He looked as though he was trying not to laugh. "Two heads? Really?"

"It's medically possible," Olivia countered weakly, well aware the argument wouldn't stand.

"So are a lot of things. That doesn't mean that they're going to happen," Jake replied. "Maybe you should look at something other than..." He glanced towards the magazine that she had selected to replace her previous one. "Birth defects? Really, Liv? You're not going to make this easy, are you?" He sighed, leaning his head against the back of his chair and closing his eyes before looking at her again. "We haven't even seen him yet. If we do and there's something wrong..."

She didn't let him finish. "You think there's something wrong?"

"Oh, God in Heaven," he began, closing his eyes as if to complete the prayer before opening them again. "No, Liv. No, I don't think there's anything wrong. I think our child is happy and healthy and not a victim of..." He glanced back towards her magazine and sighed. "Whatever the hell that is, but you are concerned, and that's not good, so how about we just tone that down for now and let the medical professional tell us if we need to worry, all right?"

"Well, what about his delivery? One of the sites I read said that he could get brain or spinal cord damage if the doctor uses the forceps incorrectly," Olivia continued to fret, receiving an unimpressed look from Jake. "What?" she questioned defensively.

"Why is he being delivered with forceps now?" Jake asked slowly, his eyes suggesting that he had previously been unaware of how worrisome a growing child could be to a woman like Olivia Pope. "And why is he a he?"

"If labor stalls for long enough and he gets stuck, they may have to use forceps," Olivia explained.

"If labor stalls for that long, you won't be delivering naturally," Jake stated. "It's a health risk for both of you if the water has broken and labor stalls." When she looked at him incredulously, he shrugged. "So I did some Googling of my own. Shoot me."

"And he is a he because I'd do better with a boy. My mother and I aren't exactly the prime example of a healthy mother-daughter relationship. Remember? You met her when she tricked us all and then..." She saw the six-year-old boy in the room and shook her head. "Well, when she did what she did."

"Oh, yeah, that thing that she did," Jake replied sarcastically, causing Olivia to roll her eyes. "I'm not going to get through this pregnancy. I'm going to end up checking myself into a mental asylum if you keep this up," he groaned.

Olivia shrugged. "Well, it's not like you couldn't use the help."

He opened one eye to glare at her. "Of all the women in the world, you are both the sanest and the most infuriating. It makes loving you the easiest and hardest thing I've ever done." He smiled as his eyes softened. "But it's so worth it."

"Of course it is. I'm just that good," Olivia scoffed, her voice exuding false arrogance, and Jake chuckled before the nurse called her name. "Let's go find out what our son has," she sighed.

"Other than a beautiful mother? He has nothing," Jake stated confidently, his hand falling to the small of her back when they began to follow the nurse.

"Well, he could be deaf and blind," Olivia stated. "That wouldn't be obvious."

"Oh, dear Lord," Jake sighed once again. The nurse in front of them looked amused. "Maybe I'll check later today, see if any of those asylums have an opening."

"You do that," Olivia deadpanned as her weight, temperature, and blood pressure were documented by the RN.

"Oh, believe me, I'm going to," Jake replied, nodding to the nurse when she headed to the door with a promise that the doctor would be with them soon.

Dr. Reilly was one of the best doctors that Olivia had ever been in the care of. The woman was a fetal surgeon, too, which was one of the reasons that Olivia had chosen to keep her as her primary obstetrician when he learned of her pregnancy. It didn't hurt that the woman was happily married and not in a position where she would hit on Jake. Olivia might not have told him how she felt yet, but that didn't mean she wasn't jealous.

"Hello," Dr. Reilly greeted as she walked into the room with a bright smile on her face. "I hear that you're pregnant, Olivia." She turned towards Jake, her polite smile still in place. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're the boyfriend."

"Oh, I, uh," Jake stumbled, glancing towards Olivia for help.

She provided it with a roll of her eyes. "He's the baby's father," she confirmed. Jake looked towards her with a hurt expression. Okay, maybe they weren't as good as she had believed they were. "I'm just a little nervous about everything."

"You're pregnant for the first time. I'd be concerned if you weren't a little nervous about at least some things. But being concerned about everything seems unnecessary. How about we see how far along you are and go from there? Do you know when you got pregnant?"

"Six weeks ago," Olivia answered immediately. The doctor nodded, clicking something on her electronic chart. "Is there any way to see if anything is wrong with the baby?"

"Not this early on. I don't even recommend ultrasounds until eight weeks, honestly. Babies' heartbeats tend to start at about six weeks, but sometimes it takes longer, and if this is one of those cases, I don't want to cause you any more undue stress." When Dr. Reilly glanced at them, she sighed. "I can do an ultrasound if you'd like."

"Oh, we'd like," Jake said immediately, causing Dr. Reilly to laugh as she nodded and left to order the machine be brought to the room.

Ten minutes later, Olivia and Jake were completely captivated by the tiny being the machine's screen was displaying. Dr. Reilly smiled and nodded. "Everything looks good. Measurements, position. From this alone, I'd wager that you'll have an easy pregnancy, but still call me of you have any concerns. I mean it, Liv." She smiled when Olivia nodded. "Well, I'll have a few dozen of these printed for you so you can show off, especially you, Dad. I will leave those at the front desk and see you back in four weeks. Ask Dell to schedule you one day that week." She smiled once again, bid them a good day, and headed for the door.

After they scheduled an appointment with Dell as instructed, the pair climbed into their car. Olivia stated straight ahead while Jake started the vehicle and put it into reverse. She smiled when he squeezed her hands. "I want you to be more than the baby's father," she stated suddenly.

"What?" Jake asked, his eyes still on the road.

"When I introduce you, I want it to be as more than as the baby's father."

"Then start introducing me as something more than the baby's father," Jake replied as though it was the easiest answer in the world to give.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Okay, then," Olivia stated with a smile.

It was quiet in the car for a moment before Jake spoke. "You're not going to start introducing me as Captain Jake Ballard again, are you? That would not be an upgrade."

"You're an ass," Olivia sighed.

"An ass you're having a baby with," Jake teased.

"I hate you," she groaned, laughing when he grabbed her hand and kissed her palm.

"I love you," he stated as though he was talking about the weather.

"I know," Olivia sighed, closing her eyes as she said it. "I'll get there," she promised him.

"I know," Jake replied simply. "And I will be waiting there for you when you do." He smiled. "I will be waiting there for you forever if I have to."

"You're a forever kind of guy, huh?" Olivia questioned nervously. She smiled when he nodded. "What if I'm not a forever kind of girl?"

"Then I'll believe in forever enough for both of us," Jake replied.

"That sounds like a plan," Olivia smiled.

"Yeah, but you know what an even better plan is?" Jake whispered secretively. She looked at him questioningly. "Getting triple-cheese fries with your Mary Todd burger from Gettysburger."

"I like the way you think," Olivia stated with a smile.

"That's not the only thing you like," Jake replied.

"Jake?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So if you're wondering where I was for a week (and a day)...yeah, I don't have a good excuse. I will say that Chapter 4 is about 800 words at the moment and I aim for about 1000 in the more "filler"-y chapters, so you might get a double update today. Two chapters a week released on the same day might be the new norm for this story. Also, I like Mellie and her friendship with Liv, but while the fluff makes Olivia OOC, I am trying to make Mellie canon, so she's kind of awful in the next chapter. Don't worry; she'll redeem herself eventually.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

Quinn and Huck were buried into OPA's newest case by the time that Olivia and Jake arrived at her workplace after their appointment and subsequent stop for an early lunch, but Quinn waved them out of the conference room with a friendly order to eat their rapidly cooling food before they became lost in the case. Jake accepted the order with a chuckle, pulling Olivia behind him by the hand while calling, "Okay, Mom," to a playfully glaring Quinn. They headed towards Olivia's office with the food and settled in to eat and therefore comply with Quinn's friendly-but still vaguely threatening-order.

"You know," Jake said as he sat her fries, burger, and milkshake on the desk in front of her after pushing aside a handful of files that she would need to look at before the day was over, "I'm pretty sure that the cravings and the nausea are supposed to happen separately." He was referencing the fact that they had been halfway to OPA before she had developed a sudden need for the milkshake that had repulsed her when he had offered it while they waited in line at the drive thru. "It's pretty awful that you crave things that your stomach could immediately disagree with." He settled onto her couch with a burger and fries of his own as he waited for her response.

"Well, that would be sensible. Babies aren't sensible, even when they're growing," Olivia replied rationally as she took a bite of her burger. "And anyway, you weren't all that upset when you had to turn around for that milkshake. You seemed excited," she teased him. "You're more excited about this than even I am, and I'm the one growing the person here."

"Well, I've always wanted kids," he reminded her. "And for a long time, I didn't think I'd get to experience that. The women I fall in love with…" He trailed off with a sad smile. "Other than you, they've shown no interest in continuing their pregnancies when it's my child they're carrying." He mustered up a slightly happier smile that she immediately saw through, and her heart broke for him.

"And I just…" He trailed off once again. "I haven't really told you how genuinely thankful I am for you and for your choices, Olivia. You didn't have to make the ones that you did, but I am happy that you made them all the same."

"I did, though," she stated absently, using a napkin to wipe cheese and grease from her fingers before taking a sip of her milkshake. "As soon as I found out…" She smiled slightly. "I was scared out of my mind, but I wasn't even considering terminating. My decision was made the moment that that second line appeared, and I don't regret it." She took the final bite of her burger and sighed. "And I'm sorry for the women in your past. I wish I could erase that pain for you." She looked at him with open, honest eyes. "Hopefully we can build enough good memories with this one to erase all of the bad ones."

"I don't think that will be all too difficult," Jake returned. "Most of the memories I have with you are good ones. Well, except for the ones where I had to get beaten to a pulp before seeing you. I mean, you're beautiful and perfect and amazing, but I could have done without the split lip or the broken ribs both of those times," he teased, causing her to roll her eyes at him. His expression grew more serious after he chewed and swallowed the final bite of his own burger. "Are you going to tell him? Fitz?"

She hesitated before responding. "I keep going back and forth on it." The confusion in his expression gave her the confidence and willpower to continue with her explanation. "I mean, when I found out, I figured that I owed him at least that much. But now…" She shook her head. "I think that it would be giving him too much of me, too much of us. And he doesn't deserve to know before anyone else, Jake. He's not that person to me anymore; neither of us have that kind of relationship with him anymore." She sighed as she finished the last of her fries. "We can tell him if you want," she stated after she had chewed and swallowed. "If that's something you need him to know, then we can tell him. But if it isn't, he can find out when the world finds out. And the world will find out. I have nothing to hide or to be ashamed of." She smiled at him shyly. "After all, according to that conversation in the car, we're more than just parents to the same unborn child at this point, aren't we?"

He smiled back at her. "Yeah, I suppose we are." He sighed. "You want to tell me about this case? Maybe I can offer some assistance."

"When you work with me on actual cases, you just comment on the issues with the client. You've called eight of them philandering pigs," she reminded him. He shot her an unimpressed look, and she sighed before flipping open the file in front of her that pertained to the case they were working at that exact moment. Her eyes widened as she took in the details. "How on earth does one man have time for nineteen women to be in his life in the romantic sense?" she questioned as she flipped through page after page of information on the senator's wife and mistresses.

"I have no idea. You're enough of a handful for me all on your own," Jake commented, ducking the pen that she picked up solely for the purpose of throwing it at him before it could strike its intended mark. "See? Handful," he stated with an easy smirk, causing her to playfully glare at him.

"Sometimes, Jake Ballard, I despise you," she sighed with a crooked smile to soften the blow of words that she clearly didn't mean. He smirked at her as he stood from the sofa and approached her. She smiled up at him when he tilted the chair back slightly.

"Hello," she stated when his lips pressed against her temple.

"You despise me some of the time, huh?" He waited for her serious nod before he finished his statement. "Well, I love you all of the time."

"I'll take it," she breathed out.

"Yeah?" he murmured against her hair.

"Yeah." Olivia smiled up at him and didn't even bother to glance at the clock before deciding that the case could wait a little while longer. Everything could wait a little while longer. For the first time in a long time, she was truly happy. She was going to hold onto how she felt in that moment for as long as she possibly could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Yup, here's update two for the day. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

The peace and happiness of that moment couldn't last forever, of course. Quinn only waited fifteen minutes before she barged into Olivia's office, a glint in her brown eyes that screamed that her sudden and unexpected presence in her boss's office had an important purpose. She glanced towards Jake and Olivia behind the latter's desk for only half of a second before letting out a quick exhale of relief and congratulating them on the end of their idiocy. She also thanked them for helping her to win the bet that she and Abby had going on. "She said that it would take you at least three months," she explained before quickly diving into the case and her reason for wanting Olivia's attention. "Also, I think the daughter's right. This doesn't look like suicide." She handed over a file to Olivia. "The medical examiner's report just came in. We grabbed it off of the hospital's database," she explained, momentarily proud of her own accomplishment before getting back into business mode. "The gun was in his mouth when he was found, right? But that doesn't make sense, because the blowback would never allow that to happen. Most people aren't even still holding the gun when they're found. It's not definitive, but it's something."

"Well, maybe you can be helpful on this one," Olivia informed Jake as she stood from behind her desk. Her phone rang, and she reached for it with a sigh. "Yes?" she answered tiredly, resting her head in her open palm as she waited for a response on the other end of the line.

"Please hold for the First Lady of the United States of America," the man on the other end stated, and she met Jake's eyes with a shake of her head that made him lean back against the cushions of the couch that he had settled on the moment that Quinn had begun her explanation with a few muttered curse words. His eyes closed for a few moments before he opened them with the sole goal of staring up at the ceiling. It wouldn't take a neurosurgeon to realize how angry he was (at the circumstances, not at her), and this was Mellie calling, not Fitz (which filled her with relief, because she didn't want to know how he would react to a phone call from Fitz). Perhaps their relationship was a little too unstable for this, but it wasn't as if she had asked Mellie to call (even if Mellie was her favorite out of the two Grants at that point in her life).

"Liv," Mellie's voice filled her ears when she finally spoke on the other end of the line. The other woman's voice was open, friendly, and yet still cool and unfeeling. Olivia almost felt jealous of Mellie's ability to be two versions of herself at the same time. "I've been waiting for you to heal a bit from what happened, which I am still so sorry for." The woman paused again before speaking brightly. "I figured taking your mind off of what those awful men did would be the best way to cope, so I have a proposal for you. How would you like to be my campaign manager for the Senate seat that our lovely Vice President has vacated since her move into the Observatory."

Olivia let out a breath. "Madame First Lady, while I respect you and your… rather daring political moves, I am not taking on campaigns as clients these days. I just don't have the time, and our history would make it even more complicated." She sighed again. "I do wish you the best in any of your future endeavors, though."

"Liv, I know that we've had our issues in the past, but we're past all of that at this point." Mellie let out a sigh of her own. "If you're sleeping with my husband, then I would like to know, but what I know for a fact is that you are the best and my campaign needs you. If that means you're the one warming my husband's bed, then I can cope. I have done so before for the greater good, remember?" There was a chill in her voice that had previously been absent.

"Mellie, I'm not sleeping with your husband. I have no plans to sleep with your husband again for as long as I live, which is a message that you can pass onto him, by the way." Jake smirked at the amount of sarcasm in Olivia's tone, and she returned a small smile of her own. "But the optics alone would be awful, and after what your husband did, I just can't…" She closed her eyes. "I need to move on with my life, Mellie, and working on your campaign would make me feel like I was moving backwards, not forwards. I'm sorry, but I can't accept your job offer."

Mellie's voice turned hard. "Liv, I need this. You owe me this."

"No, I don't. I don't owe you anything. I think I've finally seen that." She ended the call without a goodbye, and Jake looked so proud that she beamed at him. "Baby steps, right?"

"Yeah," he breathed, and they looked at each other with so much affection that they forgot Quinn never left the room until she cleared her throat to speak.

"Yeah, okay, I'm the third wheel here. I get that. I will, uh, continue calling mistresses. The report's on your desk if you want Jake to take a look, Liv." With that, the other woman scurried from the room, and Jake and Olivia burst into laughter.

"We just made a reformed government spy feel so awkward that she left the room," Olivia stated between her chuckles.

"Yeah, that's probably going to be the norm these days." Jake's phone buzzed as soon as he finished his sentence, and he cursed once under his breath before he looked towards Olivia with apologetic eyes. "It has to do with..." He tilted his head, and she immediately knew that it had to do with taking down B-613. He stood quickly and pressed a kiss into her hair. "I'll see you at your place later, okay?" he called over his shoulder.

"With pizza?" she questioned hopefully.

He threw an incredulous look in her direction. "You hate pizza."

"I'm craving pizza," she shrugged.

"I'm going to love this pregnancy," he muttered under his breath with a smirk. "I will bring pizza."

"Good. Be safe."

"I will," he called over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

She only prayed that he could keep that promise while going up against a man like her father. She didn't know what she would do if she couldn't. She didn't even want to think about it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: This is the fifth chapter. I hope you enjoy! Also, Fitz fans, I didn't make Fitz a villain, but he is sort of arrogant. It worked. I'm sorry if it offends anyone. But I will let you in on the fact that Naomi is going to be brought over from Strangers to kick behind. We need a ship name if I'm going to start using her as Fitz's love interest in everything. Anyone have any ideas? Nitz? No... Anyway... Here it is.**

 **Disclaimer: Um, is there an Olake baby on Scandal? Nope? Okay, then, it's not mine.**

Olivia sighed exhaustedly as she leaned back in her office chair, one hand covering her face as she groaned in frustration. The actual detectives on the case that she and OPA had been called in on by the victim's daughter knew even less than she did, which she hadn't even known was possible. She was also hungry and nauseated at the same time, which was an annoying combination. Just as she was about ready to pull her hair out, her door was thrown open by an exhausted but ecstatic Quinn.

The younger woman paused for only a moment before she began to ramble at a mile per minute. "I ran the financials of all of the women our lovely philandering senator was having extramarital affairs with, and we got a hit. Huck and I are going over there now to ask some questions. We figured you and Jake could use the night off to do some parenting stuff. God knows you were both royally screwed over in that department. You should take all the free time you have and dedicate it to parenting magazines and paint samples."

"How did you..." Olivia began to ask after she got over the shock, but Quinn interrupted her rather quickly.

"Government-trained super-secret spy, remember?" Quinn reminded her. "I may be reformed, but it's still part of who I am. Also, your baby daddy or boyfriend or whatever the hell he is these days? He's an excellent liar because he was an excellent agent, but his poker face sucks when he's honest-to-God happy. It took a while to figure out because the guy is literally never happy unless he's around you, and it's one of those weird happy vibes, because he's usually happy and pissed at the same time." Quinn smiled slightly. "Plus, you've been eating saltines. You also told Abby, and her poker face is worse than Jake's." She hesitated for a moment. "Are you happy about this? Because if you're not, you can tell me. I'm not going to judge. I mean, honestly, I'm me. I'm so far from being qualified to judge that it's not even funny." The other woman finally paused her rambling to take a breath. "I'm just saying that you can talk to me if you want to."

"Thank you, Quinn. But I'm very happy, and so is Jake. And I still can't believe you figured it out," Olivia laughed lightly. "And you're more worried than I am, you know."

"Uh-huh. And what would Jake say to that if I asked how you reacted at the ultrasound?" Quinn questioned, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. "I have a feeling you were pacing."

"I wasn't, actually," Olivia fired back. "Only because Jake wouldn't let me, but still. I didn't pace. Although I want to now. Why hasn't he called?" she asked no one in particular as she glanced at the darkened screen of her phone. "He left hours ago."

"Uh, one. It was one hour ago. Damn, you're going to be a great mom. You've got the exaggeration of passed time down to a tee already." Quinn smiled awkwardly as she headed for the door after being shot a rather fierce glare by her employer and friend. "Honestly, Liv, go home. You can worry there. Huck and I can close up shop for you."

"Okay," Olivia agreed tiredly. "Call me if you need anything," she ordered over her shoulder after gathering her things. Her phone rang just as she was about to climb into her car. "Hello?" she answered around a yawn.

"Hey," Jake's warm voice replied on the other end of the line, exhaustion dripping from that single syllable as he yawned. "We should have slept later this morning. Getting up at two and staying up isn't the best idea when you do the jobs that we do."

"Blame your son," Olivia replied. Her morning sickness had begun early that day. "Not that I'm complaining, but are you sure everything is all right? When you left, you thought is was going to take longer."

"Yeah, Liv, everything's fine. I promise." She could hear the smile in his voice. "You want me to meet you at your apartment? I need to run to the store, but you can come with me. I don't know what that crazy baby of ours wants on his pizza."

"You're going to make me pizza?" Olivia questioned around a laugh.

"Babe, I am going to teach you to make pizza." Jake laughed when she snorted. "I know, I know, that kind of bravery got me into the Pentagon."

"I am not that bad!" Olivia protested through her laughter.

"Sure, Liv. Tell that to the scorch marks on my poor ceiling."

"You know, I think I was insane when I slept with you. You really are a bastard." Olivia let out a sigh filled with false exasperation. "But you're also decent-looking, so this baby of ours'll probably be cute."

"Of course he will. You're his mom." The humor in Jake's voice finally faded away, and Olivia was able to detect the pain he had been hiding throughout the conversation. "He's the luckiest kid in the world because of that."

"Are you kidding? You're going to be this kid's hero, Jake, boy or girl, and I know that you're going to be their hero because you're my hero. And I don't say things like that often, I know that, but the reason I'm saying it now isn't because you need to hear it. Well, it's not just because you need to hear it. It's also because it just happens to be true." She paused. "Jake, I..." She wasn't able to finish the sentence, but it was clear from Jake's tone that he understood the sentiment all the same.

"I know, Liv. Me too." He paused for a moment. "You're the best damn thing I've ever had in my life, you know that?"

"Yeah," Olivia replied with a smile. "Me, too."

She didn't think her day could get better when she pulled up in front of her apartment after that call. She was naive enough to think it couldn't get worse. She was wrong though. It would have been almost funny how wrong she was, aside from the fact that it wasn't funny at all.

She should have known something like this would happen. After all, she had turned down Mellie's offer to be her campaign manager, and Mellie was Fitz's wife, as estranged as they might be at that point in their lives. So the call from Fitz shouldn't have been unexpected. That didn't change the fact that it was.

She thought about ignoring the call, but knew that that wouldn't be a lasting defense mechanism against the leader of the free world. He had an army at his disposal; he could be on her doorstep before the phone once again grew cool in her palm. Plus, she owed this to Jake. She might not have owed Fitz anything-she knew she didn't owe Fitz anything-, but Jake deserved for the world to know that she was choosing to stand with him in the sun despite the fact that the skies of D.C. were so often stormy. They deserved for the world to know about them. That was something she had denied them so many times in the past. She was done denying. She was ready to start living.

"Fitz," Olivia stated coolly when she answered his call. "I assume you have a reason for calling?" she asked candidly, frigidity still clear in her tone. "You and I don't have all that much to talk about these days, if you don't recall."

"Mellie told me you turned down the offer. This is strictly professional," Fitz replied. "Does it have anything to do with me? You turning her down?"

"Of course not. I'm a very compartmentalized person. I turned Mellie down because it would be awful for her image if the African-American woman the media accused of being the President's Whore, her husband's whore, became her campaign manager, the outlets would tear her apart. Contrary to popular belief, I do want what is best for the country. That's Mellie." She paused before finishing her sentence. "I'm also focusing on my personal life at the moment."

"I'm not part of that anymore?" Fitz questioned, his tone wounded.

"Boys were sent to their deaths because of me. Kids, Fitz, young men who shouldn't have been in that damn country fighting that damn war. I can't love a man who would use so many innocent lives as pawns in an effort to get the woman he considers to be his Queen back. But I haven't been your Queen for a very long time, Fitz. I have no plan to be that person for you again." Olivia paused before smiling. "And I have someone now." She smiled once again when he murmured his disbelief into the line. "And this someone? I'm always going to have him. He's mine." She finally stated the truth just as Jake walked into her apartment and raised his eyebrow at her. "And I'm his. I'll always be his."

She didn't hear what Fitz said as she ended the call. The only reaction she needed in that moment was provided by the beaming smile on Jake's face. "Mine?" he murmured as he extended the single rose in his hand in her direction.

"Yours," she affirmed, giggling when he pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. "Always yours." She blinked as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Jake, I..."

"Yeah," Jake murmured. "You too."

They stood there in that moment, lost in dozens of others, and finally came to the realization that whatever this was meant business. More than that, it meant forever. And neither of them would have it any other way. Not anymore. Not ever again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: This chapter introduces Mama Ballard, who should be an introduced canon character at this point. Honestly, anyone's parent(s) being introduced to take away from Papa Pope's reign of parental terror at this point would be appreciated. Anyway, I hope you like my version of her.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

Olivia Pope had never really been a religious person. That was probably to be expected; after all, her mother did a brilliant disappearing act when she was twelve years old and she didn't think her father could live with believing in a higher power. But the fact that she hadn't been a religious person hadn't had any bearing on the place that she had found herself after the sudden and tragic and planned death of Gerry Grant months before. As soon as they had arrived in Frankfurt for their layover, she had gone to a Catholic chapel. That had been the first time that she had stood in front of a chapel wondering if she should make her way inside. This was the second. Unlike the first, though, grief and guilt weren't the emotions keeping her outside. Bliss and happiness were.

It had been three weeks since she had told Jake she loved him without saying the words, and those three weeks had been euphoric. When Olivia wasn't working on making sure some high-power political family emerged from a scandal unscathed or privately helping Abby with whatever the White House needed without actually dealing with anyone else at the White House, she was with Jake. Sometimes he was around even when she was doing those things, with led to a lot of laughter in her office, which, on one occasion, led to Quinn almost calling the cops because she thought her boss was being murdered because Olivia just didn't laugh all that much before Jake and the baby. Considering the fact that Jake was always at OPA or with Olivia in general when he wasn't working alongside David on a super-secret case to take down her father, Quinn and Huck had both become used to Olivia's almost constant amusement. Everything was perfect. She and Jake were perfect. And yet she still felt incomplete, because while Jake spent all of his free time with her and all of his nights alongside her, and while Olivia had told him she was always going to be his on that fateful day three weeks before, she hadn't said the three words that always seemed to fall from his lips without hesitation. That was probably the reason that Olivia was hesitating to go inside. Facing the family of a man you had conceived a child with and practically lived with but hadn't yet completely confessed your love to was extremely nerve-wracking.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Jake made his way down the steps of the chapel towards her with a beaming smile on his face. Unlike many of the men in his family, Jake hadn't known this particular cousin well enough to accept a position in her wedding party, but he still looked the part of a proud family member in his light gray suit and dark blue tie. He extended a hand towards her that she took and began to walk slowly backwards so that she could make the trek up the dozen stairs with him. "What are you doing out here all alone? We're the sixth and seventh people to show up," he informed her lightheartedly. "The bride and groom haven't even arrived yet."

"Are we early?" Olivia asked, tugging her pale blue shawl more tightly around her with her free hand as they finally entered the cool and quiet chapel. True to Jake's word, only five other people were seated in the pews, and one of them was the priest. "Or are both of the parties we're here for just fashionably late?"

"No one in my family really does fashionably late, Liv. We tend more towards insanely late," Jake stated with a laugh, causing Olivia to smile. "And this cousin is on my mother's side, so we're probably going to be waiting a while." He sighed as he led them towards their seats and then allowed her to sit first before sliding into the seat alongside her. "You weren't waiting out there because you're nervous, were you? I told you that you have absolutely nothing to be nervous about today."

"No, I don't have any reason to be nervous. It's not like I'm pregnant out of wedlock at a Catholic wedding being attended by members of your family that I've never even met," Olivia stated sarcastically, causing Jake to let out another soft laugh. "This is just your mother's side of the family though, right?"

"Yeah, my mother's side of the family is the only side of the family that I really talk to. It was important to her that we both attend my father's funeral-I'm pretty sure that it was so that she could assure herself that he was actually dead more than anything else-, and I was twenty-two when that happened, fresh out of the Naval Academy. I said a few things that I would have been able to blame on the alcohol if I had actually had any. No one on my dad's side has spoken to me since. It's not really much of a loss." Jake shrugged his shoulders. "Now that I have you and the baby to think about, I'm certain for the best." He smiled at her. "They did nothing my entire life to earn the right to see me as happy as I am every single day that I wake up next to you and realize it's not just a dream anymore." He chuckled softly. "Or maybe it is, but it's also reality, which is nice."

She blinked a few times before blurting out words that she had been feeling for weeks but had been waiting for the perfect time to say. "I love you," she whispered, causing his eyes to fly to hers. "I've been waiting for the right time to say that, because honestly, who says they want to spend the rest of their life with someone without saying I love you, that's just a sign of my emotional issues and possible mental ones, too, but I just… I love you. And this is one of the reasons why, the fact that you can overcome so much with so little help. You're sitting here talking about forever like it's something we talk about every day, and I do want to talk about it every day, because I want it and I want you. I love you."

Jake looked at her with open adoration, and she wondered (not for the first time) why it had taken her so long to get to this point that he had been at for over a year. But then he beamed, and she realized that it didn't matter. She was finally there right alongside him, and it was a beautiful place to stand.

The sun came in through the windows, and Olivia was quite sure even God was smiling down on the two foolish people that had confessed their love to one another just moments before two other people proclaimed theirs to the world. She figured He had a soft spot for happy endings. After all, He had made quite a few of them happen over the years.

Before Jake could say anything, an older woman with a beaming smile and eyes just like Jake's made her way towards them, and the man next to her was instantly on his feet to greet her. Olivia stayed where she was, very aware of who this woman was. She didn't know why, but the idea of meeting Jake's mother made her more nervous than she had ever been in the past, probably because this was the first time there had been a mother to meet. Edison didn't talk to his all that often and Fitz's was dead. It was obvious from the smiles on both of their faces that Jake and his mother had a relationship that had overcome obstacles Olivia didn't even want to imagine or even think about.

"Liv, this is my mother," he introduced fondly. "Mom, this is Olivia."

"It's nice to finally meet you. I was beginning to think my son was making you up to get me off of his case." The woman extended a hand, genuine smile still in place. "I'm Philippa Martin. It's nice to meet you," she introduced as Olivia accepted her hand. "You're the only woman in the history of Jake's life he hasn't been able to stop talking about to me. In fact, you're the only woman in the history of Jake's life that he's talked about with any amount of fondness at all."

Olivia smiled at the man in question. "It's nice to finally meet you, too. Jake's been keeping us hidden from one another, it would seem. He talks about you with a great deal of fondness, too." She scooted over so that the woman could take the pew next to her.

"Yes, well, I didn't exactly want her to break out the baby books of the very few good memories my father let us have," Jake murmured low enough that only Olivia could hear him due to the fact that he had taken a seat closer to the wall so that his mother could have the aisle seat. Olivia took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. He smiled sadly at her before bringing her fingers to his lips and pressing a kiss to the tip of each one. He drew in a deep breath with his eyes closed before his smile became more genuine and his voice became much more upbeat. "Mom, what are the chances that the bride is actually going to be on time for her own wedding?"

"Considering the fact that we're discussing Victoria, probably not very high," Philippa replied with a laugh. "She is Victoria, after all. She was born six weeks early and has spent every day of her life trying to show that that wasn't typical behavior for her." Jake laughed, and so did Olivia. Her nerves left her body, and she allowed herself to enjoy the company of the people on either side of her instead of stressing out. After all, it was a beautiful day for a wedding. That should be the fact to which she paid attention.

The bride (surprisingly) wasn't late, as it turned out, but the groom was. It took fifteen minutes longer than anticipated for the two to say their vows, mostly because the bride kept bursting into nervous laughter and the groom kept paused in the middle of his sentences to stare at her in open adoration. Olivia didn't mind the extra time spent in the chapel, though. The two were clearly going to have a lot of wedded bliss together, and the room was full of peace and happiness, two emotions Olivia didn't get to experience much when she was younger and longed for in her adult years. As she laid her head on Jake's shoulder to applaud for the newly married couple before them, she realized that she was finally experiencing both for one of the first times in a long time.

The wedding was followed by a reception, which was full of food and booze and laughter. Olivia smiled as the newlyweds danced to their first song. Marry Me by Train blared through the speakers, and Jake dutifully swapped out her champagne with punch when she shot it a hesitant glance. Olivia spent most of the time chatting with Philippa until time for the bouquet toss came. She really shouldn't have doubted the persuasive skills of Philippa Martin. After all, she had known her son for long enough to know that he had to have gotten it from somewhere. It turned out that it was his mother's gene pool that had given him the mental capability to barge into buildings with no eyes inside and absolutely no backup plan.

"No, I really don't think I should," Olivia protested when the time for the bouquet toss came and Philippa looked towards her expectantly. "I've heard bad things happen during bouquet tosses."

"Well, nothing bad will happen during this one, I guarantee it. And wouldn't it be interesting to be able to tell your daughter that she was actually there when you caught a bouquet?" At Olivia and Jake's shocked looks, Philippa shrugged her shoulders. "A mother always knows when her children are becoming parents themselves, my dears."

Jake shook his shock off more quickly than Olivia and smiled. "Liv's convinced it's going to be a boy. She thinks she can control these things," he teased lightly, causing Olivia to roll her eyes. "Are you sure it's not going to get too crazy out there?" he questioned his mother with a concerned glance towards the gathering women.

"Of course not. This is a Martin wedding, not a Ballard one, and it's certainly not Woodstock, although those last two things would be very similar if your father were still in charge of the Ballard lineage." Philippa smiled weakly. "Go on, Olivia. Do it for the memories."

"If one of your cousins claws me, take me to Georgetown," Olivia teased as she finally acquiesced and stood from her seat.

"Got it, babe," Jake replied. "Go get 'em."

And, of course, when push came to shove, Olivia Pope caught the bouquet and was subsequently squealed over by a bunch of women that she didn't know before she was saved by a laughing Jake.

"So," he stated as he took her into his arms and they began dancing, "if tradition stands, you'll be the next bride."

Olivia looked up at him with wide eyes, and he smiled down at her. "We could go to City Hall right now, make it official." When her eyes only widened, he chuckled. "I was kidding, babe."

"I know," she said, because that was all she could say, because that was what she should say, because she didn't know how to tell him the truth.

The truth was that she didn't want him to be kidding. After the day she had had alongside him, she wanted to spend every day of her life like that. The truth was that she wanted him to tell the truth when he said things like that. She wanted to know if he wanted that as much as she suddenly did.

But she wouldn't say anything. She certainly wouldn't ask. Because she was absolutely terrified that, at the end of the day, he wouldn't.

Her blissful mood plummeted right then and there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: First of all, I apologize for any mistakes; this was a quick edit. Second of all, I'm sorry. I'm just... sorry. When you reach the end, please remind yourself that OLAKE is the endgame and comfort yourself with the knowledge that the next chapter fixes most of the issues introduced in this one.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

It turned out that in-love Olivia Pope was just as good at avoiding her problems with the men in her life as emotionally-damaged-and-brokenhearted Olivia Pope was. It had been a week since the wedding that had started out so well and had ended in her pain, and she had not said a word to Jake about the revelations she had come to when he had made that joke that she hadn't wanted to be a joke. It helped that he was working even later hours than she was those days while hunting for her father to try and take him down, but that brief break from each other they had both inadvertently taken was very close to coming to an end, and Olivia was absolutely terrified about what would happen when it did.

They had another doctor's appointment that day. It had been four weeks since their first one, and while Olivia had been hesitant to cancel the appointment that the doctor had asked them to make to hear the heartbeat two weeks before back when she and Jake were in their blissed-out world with only a population of two, morning sickness was not something that came only in the mornings despite its name, and since she couldn't sit in her bed for longer than fifteen minutes without needing to make a run for the facilities, she hadn't thought that it would be a good idea to be in a car for any amount of time (even if it wasn't an extended amount of time). Now, though, they would hear the baby's heart and see its tiny fingers and toes and fall even more in love with it, which was one of the reasons that Olivia was terrified. She was a hormonal mess and a mess in general, and she didn't know which version of her was going to shine through when she saw Jake beam at the tiny person growing inside her. She was pretty sure both were going to be pretty obvious to him. Then again, all of her emotions were pretty obvious to him. Well, they usually were. He somehow still hadn't picked up on the fact that she wanted to marry him then and there, but she supposed that every man had to have at least one flaw.

Jake walked into the bedroom just as she was slipping into pumps, taking her hand in his so that she wouldn't fall and smiling at her before pressing a kiss to her temple. Despite the fact that she welcomed the open affection, they had been apart so often over the past week that she had to force herself not to flinch at the feeling. She smiled genuinely up at him, trying to keep the sadness and the doubt in herself from shining through in her eyes. She knew that if either did, he would take note of it almost immediately.

"You know, we could have lunch together," Jake mused as he stepped away slightly to finish buttoning up his shirt. "We haven't seen each other nearly as much as I would have liked in the past week. And I know you're probably craving something."

"No, I'm fine," Olivia answered quietly, glancing down. "I have a lot of work to do."

"I know, but you need to eat, too," Jake said just as quietly, but his tone was even more firm than before. "Liv, are you sure you're okay? I know I've asked several times today, but you're just… you're not acting like yourself."

Olivia didn't know exactly how to respond to that one, seeing as the appointment was in less than sixty minutes and she was pretty sure the truthful answer would require a rather lengthy conversation to take place. "Nothing's wrong, Jake. I promise." She tried to smile, but it was rather weak. "I'm just working on this case, and Abby's stressed out, and Quinn and Charlie are being, well, Quinn and Charlie, and Naomi's coming to town to help with Mellie's campaign, and..."

"Nai's coming into town?" The expression on his face was one of genuine delight. "Really?"

"Yeah, she's coming for a week or so to help with the optics for the final few weeks of the campaign," Olivia replied distractedly as she reached for her purse. She knew about Jake and Naomi's friendship, so she didn't feel even the tiniest twinge of jealousy or anger at his enthusiastic reaction. "I was surprised when Abby told me, though. I thought she was a psychologist."

"Yeah, she is," Jake confirmed, "but she was raised by a pureblood Republican family. Her father was one of the GOP's largest donors back in the day. The party loves her. Man," he continued. "I wonder why Mellie's getting her help on the campaign."

"Why wouldn't she?" Olivia questioned in confusion.

Jake smiled. "Mellie hated Naomi back in the day, Liv. They're good now, but back when we were all hanging out all the time, it was like a one-sided cat fight every time they saw each other. Despite the fact that there was never anything between Naomi and Fitz-or Naomi and anyone, really, because she's a very private person and hates romance-, Mellie never really believed them when they told her that, and that was back when she actually cared. Like I said, they're on tolerable terms now, but still."

"According to Abby, Mellie was excited," Olivia informed him. "I can guarantee you I wouldn't be excited if… Kate, was that her name?... came up to you to help you with your work. And I trust you but not her. Mellie must trust both of them at least a little bit."

"Well, first of all, it would be nothing short of a miracle if Kate came to help with my work, because she's dead. Secondly, Kate was completely one-sided in her desires. And lastly, she trusts Naomi enough that she doesn't need to trust Fitz," Jake stated.

"Her desires were one-sided? She had desires?" Olivia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Jake groaned quietly. "Of course that's what you would choose to latch onto. Yes, she did. For a while."

"When did they go away?" Olivia asked tentatively.

"Right around the time that she was making fun of me for falling in love with a certain civilian." Jake grinned when she flashed him a weak smile and tapped the tip of her nose once before kissing the same spot as if to soothe pain he hadn't caused. "Now come on," he continued, taking her hand in his. "Let's go see our boy. Or girl." He laughed when she glared at him. "Most likely boy."

Their child, boy or girl, was perfect. At ten weeks old, he or she was the size of a kumquat. All of his or her vital organs were in place, and the most critical part of Baby Ballard's development was complete. Olivia should have been happy, and she was. She just wasn't as happy as she would have been if everything she was feeling was as out in the open as her joy was. She bit her lip as Dell scheduled another appointment for them for a sixteen-week checkup and then handed over paperwork for her to sign before sending them on their merry way.

The car ride was nearly silent until a call from Quinn came. The younger woman practically ordered her to enjoy the rest of her day and then ended the call before Olivia even had time to protest. When Olivia reluctantly agreed to heed Quinn's request, Jake stopped at a local deli to pick up her latest craving, a Caesar salad, before driving them back to her apartment. By the time they had walked through the door, Olivia still hadn't spoken. The look in Jake's eyes the one time that she glanced at him informed her that that just wasn't going to stand.

He placed the food on the table and turned towards her. "You want to tell me what's wrong with you now?" he asked calmly, his eyes full of concern.

"Not particularly," Olivia sighed, causing his expression to harden.

"Olivia, what is going on with you?" His face was full of confusion.

"Nothing," she snapped back. "Let's just eat."

"No, let's not. What the hell is going on with you?" Jake asked again, his voice becoming impatient.

"You didn't even ask if I wanted it to be more than a joke," Olivia finally growled when it became obvious that he wasn't going to let it go. "When I caught the bouquet, you didn't..."

Jake stared at her in confusion. "Olivia, you've never even mentioned the idea marriage to me in all of the time that I've known you. You do realize that, don't you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I know you're not a mind reader. That's not the point of this conversation."

"Oh, this is a conversation? Sounds like an argument to me," Jake muttered under her breath. Other than a fierce glare in his direction, Olivia didn't reply.

"The point is that you talked about marriage on the island. You talked about kids on the island. And now we're back in D.C., and we didn't talk about the latter until two pink lines showed up, and we still have yet to talk about the former, and I just want to know why!"

"You want to know why?" Jake scoffed. "It was easy on the island, Olivia. It was easier to pretend that you were mine and mine alone. But for a while there, you weren't. For a while, you were his. I haven't proposed because I wasn't the only man you loved six months ago. Hell, maybe I wasn't a man you loved at all six months ago."

"You have always been a man that I have loved. The fact that I was terrified of losing you did nothing to change that. And you want to talk about what happened when we came back six months ago? Well, then, let's talk. Six months ago, I was hiding behind my love for another man because I was terrified of admitting that I was in love with you!" Olivia shouted back. "And you know, maybe I'm selfish and indecisive and all those other things that the shrink I went to exactly once at Quinn's insistence called me, but you haven't even asked. We are having a baby together, and you haven't asked me if I wanted to marry you, which suggests that you don't want to marry me."

"Why do you want to marry me? Is it because of the baby, or because of your hormones, or because society says it's the right thing to do?" Jake questioned softly. "Or is it just because you want to know what it means to grow old with me? To spend your days with me? To raise children with me?" He shrugged. "Because that's why I want to marry you." He sighed when she didn't reply. "And until you can answer that question, we shouldn't be having this conversation. It'll just cause us both unnecessary pain." He headed for the door, and Olivia breathed in sharply.

"Where are you going?" she sighed out shakily.

He turned around slowly. "I'm going to go see if I can do anything more about the B-613 situation. Give you some time to think."

"Jake?" she called out brokenly, causing him to turn around to gaze at her with glistening green eyes. "I don't want us to end up like my parents."

"I know," he whispered. "That's why I haven't proposed. I don't want us to end up like mine, either."

The sound of the door closing behind him was much too final for her liking, and Olivia was left feeling more alone than she ever had before and hating every moment of her sudden silence for the first time in a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: This chapter is longer than usual with much more content to make up for the fact that this might end up being a one-chapter week. I fixed most things, and I like the way the chapter ended *wink wink hint hint*. I also included Papa Pope's rather humorous reaction via a comment from Jake. That's about all we're going to see of him until Baby Ballard is born in anything other than casual mentions. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, I'm not Shonda. If I was, I wouldn't be writing this to comfort myself. The one time I watch a current episode of this show to give it the benefit of the doubt... Sigh.**

It had been six weeks since Jake had left (and come back, although not as the same version of himself) after that fight that she wished every day she had never started, and those weeks had passed in relative silence. There was no peace to be found in the quiet, though. While Jake still asked about her work and the baby every time he saw her, there wasn't the familiar amusement in his eyes when she recounted some story from the front lines that Abby had told her, or any fondness in his expression when she spoke of Quinn's antics around Huck. His side of the bed was always cold by the time she rolled out of hers, and the sheets were always rumpled but cold. It made it harder, knowing that he had been there but had left before they could talk. It made all of it harder.

She had things to distract herself with. Naomi was in town, and the tight-laced woman that she had been introduced to on the campaign trail had the same dry sense of humor and dedication to the Grant family that she had back then. Abby had finally managed to coerce her into helping on Mellie's senatorial campaign, although she still refused to venture through the gates outside of the White House. Cyrus was still rather angry and upset (emotions constantly driven by the knowledge that his husband was dead and there wasn't much he could do to fix that) about his engagement, and Olivia was helping to plan the beautiful wedding that would precede the Marriage from Hell. She was far from alone during the day. But at night, when she returned to her apartment and dealt with Jake's coolness and her own inability to adequately express her emotions about what was happening in her life, she had to fight back tears. She had never felt lonelier in the company of someone she loved. And she absolutely hated the silence their relationship now endured.

That day, though, they were going to have to talk. She was going in for a checkup and sonogram, and Dr. Reilly was rather adamant that she reduce her stress levels due to a blood pressure scare several weeks before. They were also likely to find out the gender of the baby that she carried, and Olivia didn't think that she could cope with such an emotional moment being dealt with by the stony silence that had long since become familiar to the both of them. She didn't think she wanted to cope with the coldness. Not anymore.

Quinn popped her head in the door, flashing a hesitant smile, and Olivia felt guilty once again for the way she had been treating her team since she and Jake had grown further apart than ever before over the topic of something that would permanently bring them together. For Quinn, Olivia's yelling had been caused by the purchase of a sunny yellow sleeper several weeks before. "Liv, the First Lady of North Carolina is on the line for you. We transferred the call."

"Thanks," Olivia replied distractedly, mustering up a small smile. Quinn nodded with a small smile of her own and headed for the door. "No, really, thank you, Quinn," she said earnestly. "For… thank you."

Quinn didn't even blink. "Anytime, boss. You know that."

Olivia sighed deeply after the door had closed, once again feeling guilty that her team (and Abby) was so dedicated to her after everything that had happened in the past month. She decided to focus on work instead of her problems (which was as much the Olivia Pope motto those days as it had been before she had someone named Jake Ballard to pull her away from work and do things that surpassed what was needed for her to function), and accepted the call from Gayle Caldwell. She dove into the case with so much fervor that she didn't even realize when it was time for her appointment. Luckily, Jake could be depended on to show up for the baby even when he was completely awkward being around her.

The soft knock on her door alerted her to his presence after she had been working the Caldwell case for about two hours, and she glanced up with a smile that immediately left her face when she caught sight of his bruised eye. "What happened to your face?" she questioned, horror in every syllable.

"So we found out where your dad was hiding," he informed her, ignoring her question. He winced as he sank onto her sofa. "Should be able to lure him out sooner rather than later. Fitz is sending in reinforcements once we have a plan in place, so, you know, we've got the best military in the world watching our backs. Better than nothing, right?"

"Jake, that's great, but that still doesn't explain why you look like you got into a bar brawl at eight this morning. What the hell happened to your face?" she questioned once again.

"I think that's the most emotion you've used in over a month," he said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. He sighed when she raised an unimpressed eyebrow and refused to take the bait. "We found out where your dad was hiding, and then he found out you were pregnant. Turns out he's not all that keen on his baby having my baby."

"So he punched you?" Olivia asked in disbelief.

"Hey, he could have done much worse. I mean, in his book, we should be married." He winced when the hurt became visible in her eyes. "Olivia…" It was obvious he didn't know what to say. That was fine. She didn't know what she wanted to say or what she wanted him to say. She didn't know anything at all, really. Not anymore.

"It's fine, Jake, really." She bit her tongue to hold back tears and mustered up a smile for him, aware that he knew her well enough to be aware of the fact that it was completely and utterly fake. "We should really get going, you know. See our boy before he grows another two feet, if he has anything in common with the man that fathered him."

"I wasn't over six feet tall when I was born, you know. I was only twenty-three inches long," Jake informed her, causing her eyes to widen.

"You were almost two feet tall on the day that your mother had you?" When he nodded, Olivia winced. "If our baby's as tall as you are, I am going to be taking the medication. I'm also probably going to break your hand."

"That would be the best reason in the world it's ever been broken," Jake replied with a chuckle. "Now c'mon, beautiful." Olivia tried not to read too much into the softness in his eyes and his use of the nickname. After all, they were going to see the child that was still the primary concern for both of them. Warmth was to be expected from that child's father. Still, she couldn't hold back the smile when he added, "Let's go see if we're having a boy that looks just like his mama or a girl that looks just like her mama. I'd be good either way."

"You would be, huh?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"I'm having a baby with the woman that I love," he said seriously, grabbing her hand gently to keep her from walking out of the door. "That fact means that all of my dreams are coming true. And nothing is going to change that, Olivia. What's going on now isn't going to change that. I'm always going to be here, and I'm always going to love you. That's what you can hold onto."

Neither one of them said a word after that declaration. The car ride to Dr. Reilly's office was completely silent. For the first time in what felt like a very long time, though, it wasn't stifling.

After they had checked in and the routine information had been recorded, Jake and Olivia got a glimpse of their son for the first time since their last ultrasound following that blood pressure scare several weeks before. While Olivia had been terrified that time, she was awed as the baby wiggled its tiny hand as if to wave. Dr. Reilly didn't even bother to tell them that it was an involuntary movement. Olivia figured the woman was appreciating the happiness in the room.

"So?" Olivia asked when Dr. Reilly began to look for the gender of the baby. "Do you know yet?"

"Not just yet… oh! There we go," Dr. Reilly said with a smile. "He was ready for everyone to know, I guess. He was being shy for a while there." She turned to them both, smiling once again. "Congratulations, you two. You're going to be welcoming a very healthy little boy in about twenty-four weeks."

"It's a boy?" Olivia asked in wonder, causing Dr. Reilly to smile at her. "And everything's good? He's healthy?" she asked, not for the first time.

"Olivia, you and your son are perfectly healthy," Dr. Reilly assured her once again. "I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be absolutely perfect when we deliver him. If I did, I would tell you." She removed her gloves and tossed them in the trash can after she had printed off several dozen pictures and turned off the ultrasound machine. She handed half of the stack to Jake. "There you go, Dad. Show those off."

"Oh, I will," Jake said with a grin, glancing at the pictures he held as Dr. Reilly handed the rest to Olivia. "Thank you, Doc."

"Anytime," Dr. Reilly called over her shoulder with a smile that was professional and yet still warm.

Olivia turned to Jake with wide eyes. "We're having a son," she breathed, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"Yeah, babe, I know," Jake said, his eyes amused and concerned at the same time. "Are you all right with that?"

"I am absolutely perfect with that," she whispered, grinning as he took his hand in hers to help her down. The smile slipped away slowly. "Jake, can we talk?" she asked, causing his eyes to meet hers. "After today, I want to talk. I want us to be happy when this little boy makes us even happier."

"Yeah," Jake said, his own voice nearly a whisper. "Yeah, we can talk."

They stopped for a Cobb salad for her and a burger for him on the way back to her apartment (which was still essentially their apartment those days). Olivia settled herself at the table before she glanced in Jake's direction. Surprisingly, he was the first one to speak.

"My father only married my mother because she got pregnant. It was one night, and then they just…" He shrugged. "It was Indiana in the seventies, you know? That was what you did. You took responsibilities for your decisions and you took care of your mistakes. That was all Emily and I ever were to him. Mistakes, decisions he didn't make knowingly. And my mother was a reminder of his sins. She was a reminder of the fact that it would have been different if you didn't do what you had to when you did things like get a girl pregnant without being married to her." He reached for her hand, and she willingly allowed him to take it. "And so he beat her. And then he beat us. And by the time we got away, it was bad enough that Emily just hung herself. She…" His eyes glistened with tears. "I didn't make her see the way out, and I should have. There's always a way out, you know?"

"Jake, you were a kid," Olivia reminded him gently. "You did what you could, but what happened to Emily isn't on you, and it's not on your mother, and it's not on Emily. It's only on the person that made her feel so hopeless that she couldn't see a way out. The only person that it on is your father, and you are not your father. Believe me, your father sounds a little bit too much like my father, and if I was having a baby with a man like my father, I would have run for the hills at this point." That drew a small smile from him. "I didn't ask why you hadn't proposed because I thought it was something we needed to do. I asked why you hadn't proposed because I..." She paused for a moment. "I'm absolutely terrified that you don't want to anymore."

"Olivia," he sighed, closing his eyes. He stood suddenly. "I'll be right back."

"Jake, where are you... What are you doing?" she called after him. She fell silent the moment he returned with a small, unmistakable box. "Oh. That's what you were doing."

"I've had this forever. My mom offered hers, but that ring has too many memories for me. I wanted one that has good memories for both of us." He opened the box. "Olivia, I don't want to be our parents." He placed it on the table. "I want to be us. So only take this if it'll make you happy. And if it won't, we can wait. We have forever."

"Yes."

Jake visibly stifled a laugh. "Olivia..."

"Jake, either put that ring on me right now or watch as I put it on myself," Olivia whispered.

He did as he was told, kissing her palm when the ring was in place. "How did I get so lucky?"

"That's an easy answer," Olivia whispered. "You convince me every day without words that everything is going to be okay. Because of you, I finally believe that it will be."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: This is a cause of much stress for me, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'm trying to speed through the pregnancy slightly so that we can meet Baby Ballard, but it's not easy to update as often as I'd like. And by the way, for those following So Much More, you have several Thanksgiving-themed chapters coming your way as soon as I finish editing. Writing Thanksgiving scenes in May is very hard, by the way. And if you were one of the people forced to read the version with all the code in it, I apologize.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

Olivia Pope had never been the kind of person to picture herself as a bride. She had never imagined that she would be one. She had become an expert at shutting people out and preventing herself from loving anyone or anything at a very young age, and those coping mechanisms had accompanied her well into her adulthood. And yet there she was, sitting in her office, twenty weeks pregnant with her first child and planning her wedding to a man that she had once never imagined marrying. Even she could appreciate the irony of just how well things had turned out in her life with very little help on her part. She could understand the faith that so many people turned to more and more easily each and every day.

It had been four weeks since their engagement, and Olivia and Jake were still euphoric. They were still walking on top of the world. They were also extremely stressed people, because jobs and vendettas did not pair well with planning something as complicated as a wedding. It didn't exactly help that Jake's lovable, kind, and very pushy mother was in town in an effort to make sure that her unborn grandson wouldn't be renting the tiniest tuxedo in existence for his parents' wedding. Olivia was beginning to understand why women were so extremely stressed out by their mothers-in-law, and she didn't even officially have one yet.

Quinn barged into her office, pulling her from her thoughts. Olivia knew immediately that whatever had happened wasn't good. The woman had dealt with murder and torture more times than Olivia liked to think about, and yet she was as white as a ghost as she stood in the center of the room, breathing heavily. Olivia was halfway certain that she didn't want to be given the news that Quinn so obviously carried with her in that moment. She was absolutely certain that she wasn't going to be given a choice in the matter.

Quinn approached her slowly and carefully, the way that one would a wounded-yet still feral-animal, sinking into the chair in front of Olivia's desk slowly. "Olivia," she murmured, her voice gentle and kind and not at all appropriate for the situation, because Olivia wanted her to punch things and scream, "Jake's in the hospital." She held up a hand before Olivia could begin to panic. "He's fine. He's absolutely fine, Liv, which is why he called me. He didn't want you to freak out, but it's apparently going to be pretty hard to hide the fact that he was injured."

"What happened?" Olivia asked calmly, her voice cold. She already knew the answer.

"The President signed off on an operation to capture your father. Jake was in the lead. They didn't find him, but… he knew that they were coming." Quinn sighed slightly. "The President's put out a warrant for his arrest, Liv. If your father's still in this country, there's no way he can hide from over three hundred million people. They're going to catch him."

"He's a genius, Quinn. He knows that there's a warrant out for his arrest, which means he's somewhere where he can't be arrested legally. He's in Russia or North Korea or Cuba. He's somewhere where the President won't risk American lives just to get a fugitive." Olivia closed her eyes. "He's in the wind. There's no way they're going to catch him."

"Well, Jake thinks that they will," Quinn reminded her optimistically.

"Jake wants our son to grow up in a world where his psychotic grandfather doesn't have easy access to him. So do I. I'm just a bit more pessimistic about the possibilities of that actually happening." Olivia exhaled deeply. "Will you please drive me to the hospital?" she questioned, her eyes still closed. "I'm pretty sure this is exactly the situation that Dr. Reilly has been after me to avoid, and I don't want to run into her after driving up there myself."

Quinn nodded quickly, pulling herself from her seat and flashing a smile in Olivia's direction. Her facial expression quickly grew serious. "You may be pessimistic, but Jake's good. If he doesn't want your son to be exposed to his grandfather, then he will do everything in his power to make sure that he won't be. And Jake is good enough to make that and more happen."

"I know," Olivia murmured. "That's what I'm scared of."

The hospital was cold and quiet when Olivia and Quinn made their way inside. They immediately headed for the front desk, where they were informed that Jake's injuries were regarded as so minuscule that he hadn't even been moved into an actual room; he was still in the Emergency Department. Olivia headed that way moments after she had been given the information. She convinced herself mentally the entire way that hitting Jake for going up against her father and not telling her was not the best way to deal with the current situation. She had almost come around to her rational side by the time that Quinn pulled back the curtain.

The brunette doctor standing on the other side shot them a friendly smile and held up the clipboard that held paperwork Olivia was sure Jake had been filling out moments before. "I'm guessing you're the fiancé and emergency contact that he can't stop talking about?" When Olivia nodded, the woman extended her free hand. "Dr. Natalie Manning. Captain Ballard's managed to bang himself up pretty good, but as long as he takes about a week before heading out on another maneuver, he should be just fine. If he has any dizziness or chest pain, then either call us or bring him back in, but otherwise, just make sure he takes his pain medication and antibiotics on time, and he should be as good as new pretty soon." She smiled slightly. "I'll go finish up this paperwork so that we can get you out of here, Captain Ballard. Ms. Pope." With that, she left the room, and Olivia immediately turned her eyes towards Jake.

"We do not keep secrets from one another," she reminded him slowly, her tone calm despite the fire in her eyes. "That was one of your rules, even on the island. So why the hell are you in a hospital right now after something going wrong on a mission that I knew nothing about?"

"Olivia," Jake replied, sighing before continuing with his thought process. "Look, I know that you're probably pretty angry." He flinched when he looked at her. "Okay, you're very angry. But you're also very pregnant, and our son needs you to be emotionally stable so that your blood pressure stays within normal range."

"What our son needs is a father!" Olivia snapped back. "And honestly, you want to talk about my blood pressure? I can guarantee you that it's not very low right now."

"God help us if this kid gets your temper," Jake murmured under his breath, flinching again when Olivia glared even more fiercely. "Olivia, it's going to be all right. I have a few bruised ribs and a mild concussion. I'll be good to go by the end of the week."

"You'll be good to go? So you'll go back out into the field, put yourself back into the line of fire, and risk your life once again to capture a man that has destroyed both of our lives more than once? That's what you're telling me right now, right? I mean, I'm just making sure that I'm understanding."

"Olivia, I do not want that man anywhere near our son."

"And I do not want him anywhere near you." Olivia sank into the chair next to the bed, one hand resting on her stomach. "I can't deal with this, Jake. I can't deal with almost losing you to him. That's already happened to us too many times, and I have no desire for it to happen again." She blinked back tears. "I love you. I don't want to know what it is to lose you until we're over a hundred years old. Why can't you make that an accomplishable goal?"

Jake reached for her hand. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

Much like she had fourteen weeks before, she once again hoped that it was a promise he was capable of keeping.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I come to you with this new chapter as a high school graduate, hence the long wait between chapters. I also published this from my phone, so sorry for any page issues. I hope to have the new SMM chapter up this evening, too. And Dr. Manning from the previous chapter is from Chicago Med, by the way.**

 **Disclaimer: Is Olake canon? No? Then it's not mine.**

If Olivia Pope had learned one thing in all her years of knowing Jake Ballard, it was that he was quite possibly the most stubborn man on the face of the earth. Somehow, it seemed that she always forgot that that particular quality increased tenfold when he was injured. Also, it probably didn't help that they were newly engaged and she was pregnant. Then again, Jake had been stubborn when it came to asking her for help back when they were little more than strangers and there was absolutely not even the minutest possibility that she was pregnant, so she supposed that it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to her that his overprotectiveness was still in place when it came to her even after the person who needed protection more and more often seemed to be him.

They had finally been allowed to leave the hospital by a very amused Dr. Manning, who reminded Jake that taking his pain medication was sure to be a good idea and was even kind enough to take Olivia's blood pressure just to assure the only man in the room that she wasn't going to stress herself to death just because her father had almost beaten him to death. Now, they were back at the apartment after stopping to pick up his prescription. She should have known that actually getting him to take that prescription would be a little more difficult.

"You do realize that Dr. Manning went to medical school for eight years, did a surgical residency, and then did two fellowships, right? She's a specialist in emergency medicine and trauma surgery, so when she tells you that you need to take pain medication, you should probably just take the pain medication," Olivia tried to convince the man on her sofa for the fifteenth time that hour, but he stubbornly refused the bottle. "You have four cracked ribs and a concussion, Jacob, you cannot tell me that you're not in pain. I haven't had cracked ribs, but I'm pretty sure Quinn once compared it to breathing in fire and being unable to breathe it out."

"Your blood pressure was a little high," he stated, seemingly ignoring her. "Are you sure you should be worrying about me?"

"First of all, my blood pressure is almost always high, because I'm engaged to an idiot. Second of all, I worry about you all of the time, injured or not, because as I previously stated, you are an idiot." She sighed. "When it comes to taking care of yourself, you are an idiot. And when other people try to take care of you, you're stubborn. There is no winning equation for me here, Jake. I feel like there's absolutely nothing that I can do to make this better, and even if there was, you wouldn't let me try." She sank onto the sofa next to him. "I don't want my father around our son, either, but if it's between that and our son not having his father, I will choose the former every single time." She blinked away tears she didn't want to allow to fall. "I mean, this kid's going to be a Ballard. I'm not sure I have a high enough level of stubbornness to do this without a Ballard on my side of things."

"Please, you're at least ten times as stubborn as me when you want to be," Jake replied, coaxing her towards him so that her head rested on his undamaged shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her curls. "I'm not leaving you, Olivia. I'm not leaving our son. But I don't want your father near him. I know you understand that."

"Of course I understand it, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it," Olivia grumbled under her breath.

"Of course it doesn't mean you have to like it," Jake agreed in a pacifying tone, causing Olivia to glare at him without much heat in her gaze. "But Olivia, I'm going to come home to you. No matter what your father does, no matter what he tries to put me through, you can take that to the bank. I'm always going to come home to you." He paused, smiling against her hair. "I mean, what kind of idiot would I be if I didn't?"

"An even bigger one than you currently are," Olivia murmured under her breath, causing Jake to grin and then shush her. They basked in the relative peace of the apartment for a few moments before Olivia's phone rang. Jake groaned, glancing at the device that had been thrown on the end table when Olivia had begun to try to force pain medication down his throat. "Who is it?" she whispered.

"It's my mother," Jake replied with another groan.

"We like your mother. Between us, she's the only sane grandparent that this child is going to have." Olivia sat forward slightly, reaching for the device and answering it. "Oh, no, we're fine," she stated after the pleasantries were over. "Yes, Jake…" She trailed off, obviously listening to the woman on the other end of the line. "Quinn told you what happened? Oh, well, I'll have to thank her," Olivia stated drily, causing Jake to grin. "No, baby clothes shopping tomorrow sounds… great. Yeah, I'll tell Quinn and Abby, but they're probably going to be…" She trailed off again. "I'll tell them right now so that they can get time off from work, yes, ma'am," she confirmed with a smile. "Okay, well… yes, it was nice to hear from you, too. I'll talk to you… yes, I'll tell him. All right. I'll talk to you… yes, ma'am… oh, of course, you should go. Yes, ma'am." She smiled again. "Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow." She shook her head, the smile still in place. "Goodbye."

Jake started laughing the moment that the call had been ended. "My mother just tricked you," he informed her, "and you weren't even aware of it."

"What, with the baby clothes? Of course I'm aware of what's going on. Her baby boy was hurt and is stubborn, so she wants information without showing up here and playing Mama Bear. I get it. I'll probably do the same thing if our son inherits your inability to back away from a fight." Olivia glanced at the device in her hand when it started to ring once again. "Huh, it's Quinn. I just saw her, though…" She accepted the call, pressing the phone to her ear. "Yeah, what's up, Quinn?" Her face went blank when Quinn responded, and Jake was instantly on alert. "He what?" she breathed, nodding as though she understood when her eyes conveyed that she truly didn't. "Okay, yeah, of course. No, I'll, uh…" She blinked rapidly, "…Jake and I'll meet you at the hospital, all right? Okay, yeah. I, um, tell him we'll see him soon, please." She ended the call without a farewell, and her eyes were full of tears when they met Jake's.

"Babe, what is it? What happened?" Jake asked urgently, extremely worried about whatever it was that had made Olivia Pope, a woman he had only seen cry a handful of times in all the months that he had known her, crack enough to shed tears that seemed to be completely unrelated to her hormones.

"It's Huck," she replied blankly, staring at the phone in her hand. "He was… he was stabbed at OPA while Quinn was at the hospital with me. He's, uh…" She shook her head. "They don't know if he's going to make it."

For about the hundredth time in much too short of a time span, Jake and Olivia's worlds seemed to simultaneously collapse.


	11. Author's Note

**Hi, guys. I know you all are hoping for an update. I have good and bad news. The good news is that I have not abandoned this fic. The bad news is that I decided to change a few details, and in changing these details decided to simply post it under a new name. I will leave this up so that everyone will be able to find the rewrite. It's in my stories under the title 'You're the Clock'. I hope you all love the rewrite as much as I do and will continue to read as I move this storyline forward in its new version there.**


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